Consumer Reports & Tips
 For December 17, 2010

Webhosting Scams Exposed

Webhosting Scams Exposed!

If you have been looking for Web hosting companies, chances are you have seen many claims of greatness that made you stop and think "How the heck could they offer that for $4.95 per month?". The old saying is just as true in the web hosting industry as anywhere else... if it is too good to be true, it probably is. Read this educating article and find out what to look out for when shopping around for a web hosting company.

In today's hosting market, competition is fierce. So fierce in fact it drives some companies to practice less than respectable business tactics and others to downright fraud. With so many hosting companies going bust everyday and leaving their customers hanging, how can you be sure you will not be one of those customers? The truth is you can't be sure - no one can, but you CAN know what to look out for when searching host providers or when being tempted by a fancy ad or e-mail promising greener pastures for less money.

The anonymity and the lack of personal contact makes any Internet business an ideal candidate for a scam. Please keep in mind when reading this list that some very legitimate and respectable hosts use some of the marketing tactics below. The difference is, the respectable ones deliver what they promise. Here are some of the more common "scams" practiced by fly by night Webhosting companies.

Deceiving Price Advertising. Some hosting providers will advertise a very low and attractive monthly price. You will be lured to their site and overwhelmed with flashy graphics and follow the order links only to find out that in order to get that low price, you must prepay 3,6, and sometimes 1 year in advance.
Yearly / Advance Payments. Some hosting providers encourage and heavily promote advance payments for hosting services. Some even offer such tempting discounts that it is hard not to give in to their ploy. This can be done for one of two reasons. 1) the hosting company is barley hanging on financially and needs all the money they can get to pay their bills for the month or 2) they know that their service is less than acceptable and without an advance commitment the customers are sure to leave.

Hosting Term Contracts. This is where you sign your life away for a long-term commitment hoping the service you expect is everything you were told. See reason #2 above. With the exception of very custom high-end dedicated server solutions that are build especially for the customer, term contracts in this industry are history so don't be talked into signing one.
"Unlimited" Bandwidth. Or unlimited anything for that matter. Think about this, with the exception of space itself (and perhaps love), everything has a limit. Without being too literal the word "unlimited" in the hosting industry really means that there is no set number that can define the limit, and the real limit is determined by other factors. Most providers who advertise unlimited bandwidth use that "feature" to suck prospects in and make a quick sale knowing that only about 1% of Websites will ever use a large enough amount of bandwidth to cause problems for them. These unfortunate 1% are simply told that their sites are either "killing the server" or given another excuse as why they cannot host them.
24 Hour Support. This is one of those features that every respectable hosting company must have, after all, your site is (or should be) online 24 hours a day. Some hosts define their support as an answering service taking messages that are never returned from irate callers. Other hosts use complex voice mail systems only to return the message "I am sorry, all lines are busy now, please try back later" (later being 9-5 when the one guy who does support is actually in).

"Free" Hosting. Ahhh, the word "free", used so often and abused even more. Why would anyone give away free hosting? In most cases, your site is required to display some banner ads and generate revenue for the host provider. That is fine and many customers, especially customers with personal Websites who can live with that sacrifice. However in some cases, signing up for free hosting is like selling your soul to the devil (ok maybe not that bad) and here is why. Your personal information and your e-mail address is sold to many, sometimes hundreds of "opt in" spammers. You have essentially opted in to receive all their spam when you signed up for the free hosting and pretended you read the host provider's 26 page of terms and conditions. At times, the service is so poor it actually costs businesses large amounts of money in loss revenues. The same can be said for very cheap hosting.

Host Provider Registers Your Domain For You. This has got to be one of the biggest scams going.
If a host provider registers YOUR domain for you, make certain that their information only appears as the technical contact at most and NEVER as the domain owner. If a host provider controls your domain you are theirs for life and are held hostage.
By no means is this a complete list and we will most likely be adding to it as we discover more. You really need to do your homework and talk with salespeople, customers, or others who have experience with the Webhost you are looking into. Don't associate top positions in search engines with respectable companies or companies that have been in business a long time. Most top positions are bought and those that are not still have nothing to do with the stability of the companies. Look for telephone numbers and contact information on the Webhost's site. Never do business with any company that hides telephone numbers. Remember, if it is too good to be true it probably is.

For reliable webhosting at affordable prices with award winning customer service visit:
Solutions-Thru-Technology Webhosting.
 

(Disclaimer: This article was written from research and what we learned from multiple sources over an extended period of time. This information is for educational purposes only. Please contact a professional in the area of concern  before making any decisions on this or any  topic. No-More-Scams.com is not liable for any damages or losses due to one using this information).